by Griff Hosker
I looked to Lann who was pointing at the warrior being hoisted over the ramparts by his comrades. I swung Saxon Slayer which took his head in one blow. It rose in the air to crash down on the men near to the gate. I heard the crunch as the line of horses, spears and lances struck the Saxon line. It disappeared and they were into the heart of the Saxons. I saw a silver mace rise and fall and knew that it was my son. I leaned over the wall to stab at the neck of the next warrior who was climbing. One of them threw his spear and suddenly Aelle’s buckler deflected it harmlessly off to the side. “Thank you Lann! That was well done.”
A young slinger ran to me. “My, lord the ships are landing more men!”
“Miach take half of your archers and support the north wall.”
My equites had to finish these Saxons quickly; we could not fight on two fronts without Garth’s men. I quickly looked to the west but could see no sign of them and then I heard a wail from the east and, in the distance I saw Prince Pasgen leading his equites with Aedh whipping his horse to reach us. “Help is at hand! Fight for your lives. On equites! On!”
Lann jabbed the banner like a spear and pushed a warrior who was pulling himself up to crash on to the warriors below. The equites of Tuanthal were now withdrawing ready to charge again. I could see that their horses were tired but the Saxons looked even more exhausted. Then I saw the welcome sight of two hundred mailed warriors trotting along behind Garth, my shield wall had arrived. I ran along the ramparts to the corner nearest them. Garth began to form them into a wedge. I cupped my hands and yelled. “Attack the men on the beach.” To emphasise the point I gestured to my right and Garth nodded. He took his lethal weapon off around the side of the fort. They cut through the Saxons who stood in their way. They simply walked over them. Tuanthal led his men in another charge. There were fewer of them but they were still a formidable sight. I saw Prince Cadfan with his sword held before him and his shield, with the red dragon upon it, to the right of my son. They made a noble picture; the dragon and the wolf! At the same time Prince Pasgen had formed his men into a line and they charged too.
”Lann come with me.” I led Lann around to the north wall. I could see that this warband was not as big but there were no ditches on the seaward side. Aelle and Miach were struggling to hold them and they were already clambering over the walls. The warriors at the corner were looking to the centre and had not seen me as I ran at them. I held my sword before me and made no attempt to swing it. I struck the six of them putting my entire weight behind my shield. My sword pierced the side of one of them and three of them fell to their deaths in the yard below. Lann stabbed with his seax into the neck of the Saxon who lay on his back while I struck the edge of my shield down on the throat of the last one. He died quickly. I looked down the line. The Saxons were climbing on shields to clamber up the walls but Garth and his men came like an arrow between the sea and the fort. Once they struck then the sting would be gone from the attack. I looked out to sea. Three of the boats had either been sunk or damaged by the bolt throwers and I saw our own four ships sailing from the east and from the west. They would be trapped between our forces soon.
As I scanned the lines of Saxons I realised that I could not see their king. After his defeat by King Iago he must have decided to become more cautious. As Garth and his men sliced into the side of the Saxons they began to stream west. Miach and his archers now had easier targets and then Prince Pasgen and his men appeared at the eastern end of the line and completely encircled the Saxons. There was nowhere left for them to go. We had slaughtered the Hibernians who had been forced to swim out to their ships. Here the ships were too far away and under attack themselves, they could not help the stranded Saxons who were dying on the beach. I could see the golden sand become darker as it was dyed with the red Saxon Blood. My warriors were in no mood for leniency and we opened the gates to allow those who had fought on the ramparts to finish off the foe. They were brave warriors and none asked for clemency. They formed small shield walls and were killed by warriors who had better armour, better shields and better weapons. They were also led by warriors who fought alongside them and that made a difference.
I had not seen anyone making the decisions and I wondered if Aelfraed, the nephew of the king had been their leader. If so they had made a major error of judgement. The leader should lead the men. I had seen Aelfraed lead and fight. He could have inspired his warriors but he now lay dead in my castle. Wyrd! By noon the tide was taking the bodies out to sea and the gulls were feasting on the body parts. We had won. Many of our men and horses lay dead but the Saxon threat was gone, at least for the time being.
As the day drew to a close I could be happy in the knowledge that, despite the losses we had suffered, we had beaten all three of our enemies and we were, at least for the time being safe from threat and safe from attack. When the spring came we would be even stronger and we could begin to reclaim the land of Britannia. I now felt like the Dux Britannica. Hogan, Cadfan and Pasgen all joined me on the beach along with Tuanthal, Aelle, Miach and Garth. Their bloodied armour showed that they had all fought hard and had survived.
“This day we have shown that we are an army which is worthy of the name Roman. The Saxons use it as a term of insult but to me it is a term of honour. Today you have all shown that you are great leaders. Look at our enemies and know that they died not because they were poor warriors or because of their blood but because they were badly led. We will not lose because we do not have bad leaders and, no matter where we were born we are all Wolf Warriors!”
Tired though they were, they all, men and leaders alike, began banging their shields and chanting, “Wolf Warrior!”
The End
Coming in late Autumn,
Book 5 in the series,
Saxon Slayer
Glossary
Characters in italics are fictional
Name
Explanation
Aedh
Despatch rider and scout
Aelfere
Northallerton
Aelfraed
Saxon volunteer
Aella
King of Deira
Aelle
Monca’s son and Lann’s step brother
Aethelfrith
King of Bernicia and Aethelric’s overlord
Aethelgirth
Saxon volunteer
Aethelric
King of Deira (The land to the south of the Tees)
Aidan
Priest from Metcauld
Alavna
Maryport
Ambrosius
Headman at Brocavum
Artorius
King Arthur
Banna
Birdoswald
Belatu-Cadros
God of war
Beli ap Rhun
King of Gwynedd until 599
Bellatrix
Gallic Warrior
Bhru
Bernician warrior
Bladud
King Urien’s standard bearer
Blatobulgium
Birrens (Scotland)
Bremetennacum
Ribchester
Brocavum
Brougham
Caedwalestate
Cadishead near Salford
Caergybi
Holyhead
Civitas Carvetiorum
Carlisle
Cynfarch Oer
Descendant of Coel Hen (King Cole)
Dai ap Gruffyd
Prince Cadfan’s squire
Delbchaem Lann
Lann’s daughter
Din Guardi
Bamburgh Castle
Dunum
River Tees
Dux Britannica
The Roman British leader after the Romans left (King Arthur)
Erecura
Goddess of the earth
Fanum Cocidii
Bewcastle
Felan
Irish pirate
Freja
Saxon captive and Aelle’s wife
Gareth
Harbour master Caergybi
Garth
Lann’s lieutenant
Gildas
Urien’s nephew
Glanibanta
Ambleside
Gwynfor
Headman Caergybi
Gwyr
The land close to Swansea
Halvelyn
Helvellyn
Haordine
Hawarden Cheshire
Hen Ogledd
Northern England and Southern Scotland
Hogan
Father of Lann and Raibeart
Hogan Lann
Lann’s son
Iago ap Beli
King of Gwynedd 599-613
Icaunus
River god
King Gwalliog
King of Elmet
King Ywain Rheged
Eldest son of King Urien
Lann
A young Brythonic warrior (Lann means sword in Celtic)
Llofan Llaf Difo
Bernician warrior-King Urien’s killer
Loge
God of trickery
Loidis
Leeds
Maiwen
The daughter of the King of Elmet
Metcauld
Lindisfarne
Miach
Leader of Lann’s archers
Monca
An escaped Briton and mother of Aelle
Morcant Bulc
King of Bryneich (Northumberland)
Mungo
Leader of the men of Strathclyde
Myrddyn
Welsh wizard fighting for Rheged
Niamh
Queen of Rheged
Nithing
A man without honour
Nodens
God of hunting
Osric
Irish priest
Oswald
Priest at Castle Perilous
Pol
Equite and Lann’s standard bearer
Prestune
Preston Lancashire
Prince Cadfan Ap Iago
Heir to the Gwynedd throne
Prince Pasgen
Youngest son of Urien
Radha
Mother of Lann and Raibeart
Raibeart
Lann’s brother
Rhydderch Hael
The King of Strathclyde
Ridwyn
Bernician warrior fighting for Rheged
Roman Bridge
Piercebridge (Durham)
Solar
West facing room in a castle
Sucellos
God of love and time
The Narrows
The Menaii Straits
Tuanthal
Leader of Lann’s horse warriors
Urien Lann
Son of Lann
Urien Rheged
King of Rheged
Vindonnus
God of hunting
Wachanglen
Wakefield
wapentake
Muster of an army
Wide Water
Windermere
Wyddfa
Snowdon
Wyrd
Fate
Maps
Courtesy of Wikipaedia
Holy Island (Mona)
Map by the author
Historical Note
All the kings named and used in this book were real figures, although the actual events are less well documented. Most of the information comes from the Welsh writers who were also used to create the Arthurian legends. It was of course, The Dark Ages, and, although historians now dispute this as a concept, the lack of hard evidence is a boon to a writer of fiction. Ida, who was either a lord or a king, was ousted from Lindisfarne by the alliance of the three kings. King Urien was deemed to be the greatest Brythionic king of this period. He was succeeded by Aella.
While researching I discovered that 30-35 was considered old age in this period. The kings obviously lived longer but that meant that a fifteen year old would be considered a fighting man. If the brothers appear young then I suspect it is because most of the armies would have been made up of the younger men without ties.
The Angles and the Saxons did invade towards the end of the Roman occupation and afterwards. There appear to be a number of reasons for this: firstly the sea levels rose in their land inundating it and secondly there were a series of plagues in Central Europe. This caused a mass movement towards the rich and peaceful lands of Britannia. Their invasion was also prefaced by the last Roman leaders using Saxon mercenaries to fight the barbarians to the north and the west. At the same the time Irish and the Scots took advantage of the departure of the Romans and engaged in slave raids and cattle raids. It was not a good time to live in the borders.
Carlisle, by all accounts, was a rich fortress and had baths and fine buildings. The strong room in the Praetorium is a fact. There is an excellent one at Corbridge, which is what gave me the idea. There are steps down and it could accommodate ten men; three would have not posed a problem. Carlisle exceeded York at this period as a major centre. Rheged stretched all the way from Strathclyde down to what is now northern Lancashire. Northumbria did not exist but it grew from two British kingdoms which became Saxon, Bernicia and Deira. This eventually became the most powerful kingdom in Britain until the rise of Alfred’s Wessex. Who knows what might have happened had Rheged survived?
Morcant Bulc was king of Bernicia and he was jealous of King Urien who was considered the last hope of Romano-Britain. All of the writings we have from this period come from Wales which is the distance from Rheged and perhaps they were jaundiced opinions. In the years at the end of the Sixth century the kingdoms all fell one by one. Rheged was one of the last to fall.
I do not subscribe to Brian Sykes’ theory that the Saxons merely assimilated into the existing people. One only has to look at the place names and listen to the language of the north and north western part of England. You can still hear anomalies. Perhaps that is because I come from the north but all of my reading leads me to believe that the Anglo-Saxons were intent upon conquest. The Norse invaders were different and they did assimilate but the Saxons were fighting for their lives and it did not pay to be kind. The people of Rheged were the last survivors of Roman Britain and I have given them all of the characteristics they would have had. This period was also the time when the old ways changed and Britain became Christian but I have not used this as a source of conflict but rather growth.
There was a battle of Chester, when the Saxons finally claimed the whole of England but this was fifteen years after my story. Beli ap Rhun was king of Gwynedd at the end of the sixth century. Asaph was the bishop at the monastery of St.Kentigern (Aka St. Mungo) and they named the town after him. Julius Agricola swam horses and men across the straits between Wales and Anglesey four hundred years earlier and I thought that Lann could do the same. There is no evidence that Ywain succumbed to the Saxons but Prince Pasgen did rule, briefly in Rheged. The Bishop of the monastery of St Kentigern was called Asaph and he did become a saint. Bishop Asaph was the second bishop at the monastery and town which now bears his name. He did die at the end of the sixth century as did King Beli who was slain by Saxons. His monastery did survive quite well against raids by Saxons and the Irish. I have used Lord Lann as the protector of the monastery; it seemed as plausible a story as any.
King Iago did succeed King Beli and his son was Cadfan. I did not learn much about them when I researched other than when they died. I have given them their attributes as they fitted in with my story line. For all that I know King Iago was a good king but I couldn’t resist casting him as the baddie! King Aethelfrith did capture Chester in 613 and King Iago died in the same year; the writings of the time say he was killed in battle.
Phocas did become Emperor at the end of the Sixth Century and he was an officer. He was very unpopular and like many military leaders a tyrant but it suited by story to have him making overtures to Lord Lann.
/> I mainly used two books to research the material. The first was the excellent Michael Wood’s book “In Search of the Dark Ages” and the second was “The Middle Ages” Edited by Robert Fossier. I also used Brian Sykes book, “Blood of the Isles” for reference. In addition I searched on line for more obscure information. All the place names are accurate, as far as I know and I have researched the names of the characters. My apologies if I have made a mistake.
Griff Hosker August 2013
Other books by
Griff Hosker
If you enjoyed reading this book then why not read another one by the author?
The Sword of Cartimandua Series (Germania and Britannia 50A.D. – 128 A.D.)
Ulpius Felix- Roman Warrior
Book 1 The Sword of Cartimandua
Book 2 The Horse Warriors
Book 3 Invasion Caledonia
Book 4 Roman Retreat
Book 5 Revolt of the Red Witch
Book 6 Druid’s Gold
Book 7 Trajan’s Hunters
Book 8 The Last Frontier
Book 9 Hero of Rome